Mystery manhole leak in Queens creating an icy hazard for food wholesaler

A flooded manhole has turned a loading dock into an ice rink in Queens. 

"The water has nowhere to go, so it's 24/7 of just constant flow," Mike Ciuffo said. 

Ciuffo, president of food wholesale company M&V Provisions, says the mystery leak has been gurgling for more than a month, posing added risk to staff, customers, and delivery drivers since the snowstorm and deep freeze.

"We've had a few people fall," he said.

He says a tractor trailer full of eggs was unable to complete its delivery.

"He got stuck on the ice. He was here for about three hours before they finally towed him out," co-owner Joe Vallario said.

"We need those eggs," loading dock manager Albert Arana said. 

It comes as a blow to the long-running Ridgewood family business, which delivers ingredients and kitchen supplies across the Tri-State Area.

"It's thousands of bodegas, delis, restaurants," Ciuffo said.

"It's been over a month now" 

Staff tried using sandbags to dam up the manhole.

"It didn't quite work as well as we hoped for, but we're trying to do anything we can to stop the flow," he said.

He says repeated 311 requests have gone nowhere.

"It's been over a month now. We're getting no response from the city at all. This morning, we had to chase away about half a dozen tractor trailers that couldn't get in," Vallario said. "We're trying to supply the city with food, and it's creating all sorts of problems."

"No one's reached out to us at all" 

The Department of Environmental Protection told CBS News New York that it is actively investigating and that it remains unclear whether the issue is a water main break or other condition.

"No one's reached out to us at all. No one," Vallario said.

Management worries about the ripple effect for delis and their customers.

"The impact now is we cannot receive products. No delivery driver will take a chance to back in," Ciuffo said.

"As long as it stays below freezing, it's a problem, and there's no signs of it warming up anytime soon," Vallario said.

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